


The makings of a Victor

by erudessa



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:52:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1235653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erudessa/pseuds/erudessa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My name is Peeta Mellark. I am from District 12. I am the victor of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The makings of a Victor

_My name is Peeta Mellark. I am from District 12. I am the victor of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games._

Who am I? Or more accurately, what am I?

As a sit on my bed in the Training Centre, pondering those very questions, all other details, besides my name and present status, eluded me.

In defeat, I closed my eyes, allowing the memory of my victory wash over me.

I heard Claudius Templesmith's denouncement of the rule change. It echoed loud and piercing through my mind. I clawed desperately at my ears, hoping to block out that voice, that message.

I wanted to regret my actions. But I'm hollow, unable to muster that feeling. My memory continued. Disembodied I watched.

I watched Katniss Everdeen's, the girl on fire's, expression change. I remember reaching for my knife in my belt. She raised her bow. Stringing in an arrow, she raised it in level with my head.

In that moment, I heard the echo of my mother's parting words.  _She's a winner, that one….._  Katniss's expression began to turn ugly. I felt a strange sense of bitterness pervading my mouth. A wrenching in my gut. I was still clutching my knife.

I loved her. I can't kill someone I loved. So I cast my knife into the depth of the lake.

I had valued her life over mine. So what happened next?

Her expression changed. It fell. I could read the shame in her eyes. She, too, cast away her weapon. Slowly, she pulled out the berries. Nightlock.

Then I remembered her expression as she leveled her bow to my head. With gut-wrenching realization, I knew she did not care for me. She could kill me, just like how she could kill the other tributes.

_She's a winner….._

Bitterness added to bitterness. In this world, no one cared for me. Katniss. My mother. No one.

Standing straighter, my resolve hardened. My subconscious worked without conscious thought. I touched my bleeding leg. My time was limited. I had another knife, hidden in my boot.

Slowly, I pulled out my knife. I threw myself, with all the energy I could muster, at Katniss. I watched myself slit her throat. Her cannon fired. Hovercrafts pulled me out of the arena.

Her startled expression of pain was forever branded into my mind. I have just killed Katniss Everdeen, the girl I loved. I wanted to regret. But I am hollow.

A knock on the door revealed Portia and my prep team, bringing me into harsh reality.

Who am I? What am I?

_My name is Peeta Mellark. I am from District 12. I am the victor of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games._


End file.
